Third Time’s The Charm For Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition

May 18, 2018

Neila

It took three iterations, but now we can safely say that Hyrule Warriors has received the “definitive” treatment. But first let’s go back to 2014, when the Wii U was treated to a bizarre, but oddly satisfying, cross between The Legend of Zelda and Dynasty Warriors. Filled with a roster of Zelda character both familiar and esoteric, each one was highly customizable with weapons, badges, combos, and other rewards that made for a breezy but highly addictive counterpart to the more slow-burning Zelda games we’ve come to expect.

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition on the Nintendo Switch offers everything that was available in the Wii U version—including all the DLC—plus all the nifty adjustments (inferior graphics notwithstanding) and new levels from 2016’s Hyrule Warriors Legends on the 3DS, Naturally, it also boasts cleaner visuals and overall more stable performance, both docked and on the go.

A minor but welcome tweak the Definitive edition offers is the ability to cycle through your roster of characters on the battlefield with ease, thanks to the D-pad. Additionally, you can also teleport via Owl statues, which was introduced in the Legends on the 3DS. But the biggest Switch update is the ability to play co-op with a friend. It’s a swell feature when docked, but the split screen can be a tad claustrophobic in handheld mode.

Visually, Hyrule Warriors looks slightly better here than it did on the Wii U, and unsurprisingly way better than it did on the 3DS. It runs at a consistently smooth 60fps while docked and hovers around 30fps in handheld mode. The visuals also appear to be a little more vibrant, or maybe I’m imagining things.

If you missed it on the Wii and 3DS, this is clearly the version to get, and also a game any Zelda fan worth their salt should experience. Even if you’ve already played the heck out of the Story Mode, new Adventure Mode maps and 31 playable characters (half of which are unlocked from the get-go) may be incentive enough to pick up that sword again and slash away at an unrelenting army of enemies.

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition is out now exclusively on the Nintendo Switch. Check out the trailer below.